This first anthology of Oregon folk literature bears a special relationship to the other five volumes in the Oregon Literature Series. For collected here are the kinds of cherished traditional stories and songs, myths and sayings that have nurtured and informed the state's best writings.

Oregon's written literary heritage owes much to what Oregonians have told and sung and kept in memory, in kitchens and sweat-lodges, on the range and on the street, in canneries and convention centers, in schools, bunkhouses, and funeral parlors. The Stories We Tell is divided into fourteen sections that reflect the extent to which folk stories and songs figure intimately into Oregonians' lives. Sections include This Place is Home, Tales of Hunting and Fishing, At Work in Oregon, Family Ties and Knots, Monsters, Snakes, and Fabulous Creatures, and Husbands, Wives, and Lovers.

The Stories We tell is a book to be read aloud. It celebrates a literature that has been sustained by the artistry and imaginative generosity of countless Oregonians, past and present, with stories to share.